Tiber River Reviews: Sinner

Sinner

I guess I should have realized that a book by a comedian was not likely to be the book for me.  Comedy isn't my thing, and by the time I got to the end of Sinner I was skimming and waiting for it to be over.

Lino Rulli is an Italian-American comedian who has a show on Sirus radio (and I'll admit to barely knowing what Sirus radio is, having never listened to it.)  The book is kind of a memoir, but not really.  It's the story of his faith life, but not really.  It's a book about him, but after having read it, I don't feel like I know any more about him or about his faith than I did after reading the back of the book.

Rulli admits that he isn't the most pious guy on the block, and that he was thrilled to be confirmed because that meant he didn't have to go to mass anymore (guess his parents weren't as mean as mine).  What he doesn't tell us is why he came back.  He gives us a humorous chapter on how to go to confession.  I also liked the chapter about his first two adult confessions--one sitting in a beanbag chair talking to Fr. "You're OK" and the second in Rome talking to Fr. "How Many Times?"  He also had a chapter about how he ended up confessing to a priest he was trying to avoid.  Interesting as these chapters were however, there was nothing about them that would convince me to go if it was not a habit I already developed.

I liked the way he admitted that he doesn't know all the answers; that he isn't one of those people who comfortably tells you about what his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ did for him today.  His mind wanders during mass and he doesn't like going to confession.  I'm not a person who wears my religion on my sleeve and I like hearing the faith stories of people to whom I can relate.  However, I don't think he ever tells us why he believes or why we should.  There are anecdotes about his life, but they don't come together to really explain much about him, at least in my opinion.

All that being said, I know there are people that love this book.

I'd like to thank the Tiber River Review program for providing a complimentary review copy.  It should be obvious that I was not required to write a positive review.

I wrote this review of Sinner for the free Catholic Book review program, created by Aquinas and More Catholic Goods, your source for Baptism Gifts and Oplatki Christmas Wafers. Tiber River is the first Catholic book review site, started in 2000 to help you make informed decisions about Catholic book purchases. I receive free product samples as compensation for writing reviews for Tiber River.

An Invisible Thread: My Review

About the Book:

“Excuse me lady, do you have any spare change? I am hungry.”

When I heard him, I didn’t really hear him. His words were part of the clatter, like a car horn or someone yelling for a cab. They were, you could say, just noise—the kind of nuisance New Yorkers learn to tune out. So I walked right by him, as if he wasn’t there.

But then, just a few yards past him, I stopped.

And then—and I’m still not sure why I did this—I came back.

When Laura Schroff first met Maurice on a New York City street corner, she had no idea that she was standing on the brink of an incredible and unlikely friendship that would inevitably change both their lives. As one lunch at McDonald’s with Maurice turns into two, then into a weekly occurrence that is fast growing into an inexplicable connection, Laura learns heart-wrenching details about Maurice’s horrific childhood.

Sprinkled throughout the book is also Laura’s own story of her turbulent childhood. Every now and then, something about Maurice's struggles reminds her of her past, how her father’s alcohol-induced rages shaped the person she became and, in a way, led her to Maurice.

As their friendship grows, Laura offers Maurice simple experiences he comes to treasure: learning how to set a table, trimming a Christmas tree, visiting her nieces and nephew on Long Island, and even having homemade lunches to bring to school.

It is the heartwarming story of a friendship that has spanned thirty years, that brought life to an over-scheduled professional who had lost sight of family and happiness and hope to a hungry and desperate boy whose family background in drugs and crime and squalor seemed an inescapable fate.

My Comments:

I enjoyed this heartwarming memoir, the story of a New York career woman who, one day, actually stopped to talk to a child who was begging and found him to be a wonderful human being.  I liked the fact that she didn't play lady bountiful and didn't see herself as his savior.  As a matter of fact, she'll tell you that she got as much from the relationship as he did.  The book provides a look at life in grinding poverty, a life where children see having a gun held to their head as a normal part of a business transaction, a life where drugs are rampant and no one holds a real job.  It also shows us that life in middle-income families isn't always as rosy as it appears.  

Often, I'll say that memoirs are self-absorbed.  Some of this one is, a little, probably like Laura Schroff's life was before Maurice became a part of it; but he takes enough of the focus off of her in this book that the "me" factor is dilute enough. Maurice and Laura both needed someone to love them; they both found that love and both are better people for having each other in their lives.  

I'd like to thank the publisher for providing a complimentary review copy.  Even though I'm not obligated to provide a positive review, I'm pleased to give this book a B+.  

In October 2011 Parade Magazine published an article about Laura and Maurice.

When Laura turned 50, Maurice toasted her at her party.  A video of it is here.